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BANGOR – Eric Anderson has exactly none of Bangor’s 52 stolen bases this spring, but his base-running served as a catalyst Thursday as Bangor High topped Leavitt of Turner Center 8-0 in an Eastern A baseball preliminary-round game at Mansfield Stadium.
The win, in a game delayed for two days by weather issues, means the No. 4 Rams (14-3) will host No. 5 Cony of Augusta (14-3) in a quarterfinal today.
The burly Anderson, a lineman for the Bangor football team and designated hitter for the baseball team, scored the only run his team needed – and what seemed for much of the game like the only run that might be scored.
After Leavitt lefty Brandon Smith retired the first six batters he faced, Anderson hit a leadoff single to center in the bottom of the third. He reached second on a sacrifice by Mike Larochelle and scored on a two-out single to left by Nate Hall.
“I’m looking for a pitch to drive, that’s all I’m doing,” said Hall. “The first pitch that’s in the zone, I’m going to rip at it and try to put the ball in play.”
The play at the plate was destined to be close as Anderson rounded third, but the throw from Leavitt left fielder Donny Hinkley was wide and Anderson slid home safely.
“I was just reading [third base coach John] Tennett, and he told me to go,” said Anderson. “I knew it was going to be a close play and I had a feeling he was going to send me, so I tried to go as hard as I could.”
Junior righthander Brian Hackett, Bangor’s No. 3 starter, made that run stand up with an 86-pitch two-hitter. His control wavered occasionally – he had two walks and two hit batters to go with six strikeouts – but backed by an errorless defense he allowed just one runner to reach third base.
“My curveball is usually my best pitch but I didn’t have good control of it today, so I threw a lot more changeups, which were working well,” said Hackett. “I didn’t have a lot of control, but if I didn’t know where it was going, neither did they.”
Hitting was a struggle for both teams, likely the result of extended layoffs. No. 13 Leavitt (7-10) hadn’t played in 12 days, while Bangor had been idle for eight – and because of the weather each team had just one outside practice during its down time.
“I’m hoping that’s what it is,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey, whose team mustered just four singles against Leavitt, “because we’re going to have to hit the ball against Cony.”
Bangor broke the game open with seven unearned runs in its last two at-bats. The Rams scored twice in the fifth. Larochelle started the rally with an infield single and Anthony DeRosa added an RBI single to go with a Jordan Heath sacrifice, a passed ball and an error.
Bangor scored five runs without a hit in the sixth, as Smith issued four walks and Leavitt made two more errors.
“They had just one earned run and we almost threw that guy out at the plate,” said Leavitt coach Dave Morin. “On paper, it could be 0-0 right now, but the bottom line is we didn’t score a run, and you can’t win if you don’t score.”
RAMS 8, HORNETS 0
No. 13 Leavitt (7-10) No. 4 Bangor (14-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Schrepper, cf 2 0 0 0 Hall, lf 3 2
Cutter, 2b 2 0 0 0 N. Larochelle, 2b 2 1
Gilbert, c 3 0 0 0 Ingraham, pr 0 1 0
Pirruccello, dh 3 0 0 0 DeRosa, cf 4 1
Sawyer, 3b 0 0 0 0 Hackett, p 3 0 0
Smith, p-1b 3 0 1 0 Eremita, pr 0 0 0
B. Hinkley, ss 3 0 0 0 Dowe, c 3 1 0
Matayer, 1b-rf 3 0 1 0 Young, 1b 3 0
Brewer, rf-p 1 0 0 0 Anderson, dh 2 1 0
D. Hinkley, lf 2 0 0 0 Toomey, 3b 0 0
M. Larochelle, rf 1 1 0
Murphy, pr 0 1 0 0
Heath, ss 2 0 0 0
Totals 22 0 2 0 Totals 23 8 4 4
Leavitt 000 000 0 – 0
Brewer 001 025 x – 8
E-Cutter 2, Smith, Sawyer; LOB-Leavitt 6, Bangor 4; DP-Bangor 1; S-D. Hinkley; M. Larochelle, Heath; SB-Schrepper; Eremita, Hall
Leavitt IP H R ER BB SO
Smith (L, 2-6) 5 2/3 4 8 1 6 5
Brewer 1/3 0 0 0 0 0
Bangor IP H R ER BB SO
Hackett (W, 5-0) 7 2 0 0 2 6
HBP-Schrepper (by Hackett), Brewer (by Hackett); WP-Brewer; Hackett 2; BK-Smith; PB-Gilbert; T-1:32; ATT-100 (est.)
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